Tablet computers, smartphones, and other mobile devices have touch sensitive displays on which a user can physically interact with a user interface of the device. Such interactions can include launching an application from the user interface by touching an application icon, adjusting settings (e.g., volume, brightness, etc.) of the device by touching the user interface and navigating menus of one or more user interface screens, as well as other interactions enabled by the touch sensitive display. When the display is active, any touch on the device may launch an application, adjust settings, etc., even if the user does not intend to perform the associated action. For example, although a mobile device has been inactive for a period of time, its touch screen may still be active when a user picks up the mobile device. In picking up the device, the user may inadvertently touch an application icon thereby launching the application, inadvertently make a user interface selection, etc. These inadvertent actions can have unintended consequences, such as inadvertently sending a message, inadvertently rearranging application icons in the user interface, deleting content from the mobile device, as well as other unintended actions.
Mobile devices often control the active time of a display, such as a touch sensitive display, by timers. That is, when a display of a mobile device has been inactive for a pre-set amount of time, the display is deactivated. The deactivation serves to save power on the device, and as a result also prevents the inadvertent actions discussed above. A user may also proactively select to deactivate a mobile device's display by pressing a button on the device, selecting a user interface element, or through some other explicit user command. However, prior to the timer elapsing or the user explicitly deactivating the device's display, one or more of the actions discussed above may have been inadvertently triggered.